Disclaimer: Don't own.
Polar exploration is at once the cleanest and most isolated way of having a bad time which has been devised.
-Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World
/
At lunch the next day, the little group of friends sat, as usual, in a crescent around their favorite table. Jade, at one end, faced Beck at the other directly, and neither of them was comfortable about it, a fact that was soon conveyed to their friends by their constant nervous squirming.
Finally, Tori, unable to hold her tongue, said, "One of you guys want to switch seats with me?"
"No, thanks," replied Beck.
"Can it, Vega," replied Jade, and was instantly sorry for her outburst. Much as she loved to find excuses to insult Tori, this situation couldn't be blamed on anyone but Jade herself.
As much as they had squabbled (and Jade now acknowledged, ruefully, that she was the instigator of those squabbles more often than not), Beck and Jade had been genuinely happy when they were together, or so Jade wanted to believe. They were more than just the usual ephemeral high school couple; they were the Beckandjade, a unit, each completing the other, the two of them against the world. Without Beck in her life, Jade felt that she had lost the one piece of solid ground beneath her feet in a world of ever-shifting seas.
She decided to change the subject, as quickly as she could. "So…um…I entered this contest…and I…well…I won this cruise to Antarctica."
Tori's fork, halfway to her mouth, fell to the table. Everyone stared in astonishment at Jade.
"Are you kidding?" Robbie cried.
"No, Shapiro, I'm really not. It's a cruise for two, during spring break."
"Hooray!" yelled Cat. Tori and Robbie applauded. André, whose keyboard was, as always, at his fingertips, grinned from ear to ear and played the chords of the "Triumphal March" from Aida. Even Beck gave Jade a smile.
"So, who are you going to take as your guest?" asked Tori when the cheering subsided. Beck's smile faded, and he looked away.
"I hadn't really thought about it, to be honest. I mean, I would have liked to go with-" she looked down, embarrassed to admit the truth- "with my dad, you know? Just so we could talk, for once. But he's got work. Surprise, surprise."
"Why not take everybody's favorite two-foot-tall stud?" said Rex, winking. "We can share a cabin…"
Jade scowled. "Sounds great! I wonder if cruise ships have wood chippers on board?"
"Aaah! Hide me from the she-devil, Rob!"
"Don't be silly, Rex," said Cat. "Of course my BFF Jadey's going to take me! We can see the penguins, and the polar bears-"
"There are no polar bears at the South Pole," put in Robbie.
"Phooey! Okay, just the penguins. And we can dress them up in cute little costumes, and have a tea party, and sing songs! 'Ho ho hee, a penguin's life for me…'"
"André!" Jade blurted out, suddenly struck with a nightmarish vision of being trapped on a boat for a week with the hyperactive little redhead, and seeking to avoid it at all costs. "Why don't you come with me?"
He looked up from his keyboard with surprised eyes. "Why me?"
"Um…well…your folks are out of town, aren't they?"
"Uh-huh."
"And your grandma's…" She was unsure how to finish the sentence without humiliating André, but it fortunately proved unnecessary.
"Yeah," he said with a sigh. "She'll be there for a long time. The hallucinations are…they're bad this time. Really bad. It's going to be a while before the doctors find the right medication balance, and even longer before it kicks in." His voice grew quiet. "In the meantime, she's in no condition to see anybody, even me." He turned away, staring at the wall, ignoring Tori's comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Sounds like you could use an escape from reality just as much as I could," Jade said.
André nodded, almost imperceptibly.
"Oh, well. So much for dressing up penguins." Cat pouted in her usual adorable fashion, with her lower lip sticking out, then instantly brightened up. "Hope you have fun, André! You too, Jade – but you still owe me a trip," and she grinned mischievously.
"Hopefully one where you don't end up burning down a movie star's home," said Rex. Without a word, Jade crammed a taco shell into the impertinent puppet's mouth.
/
Caroline Lee had to fight the urge to fling her computer against the office wall.
"How? How? How can that brat who left my daughter hanging from the ceiling win the trip I offered? Is there no justice in the world?"
She banged her fists on her desk like a petulant child – then froze mid-motion, as a wickedly delightful thought crept into her head.
She flicked on the intercom to her personal secretary. "Karl? Have you made the travel arrangements for the Antarctic cruise yet?"
"No, ma'am," the tinny voice replied through static. "Are you still planning to book the QE2?"
Mrs. Lee chuckled. "Actually, I think we should go for something a little…cheaper."
"How much cheaper?"
"Oh, let's say…a barely seaworthy piece of junk?"
"Are…are you sure about that, ma'am?"
"Oh, yes. Very sure."
The moment she turned the intercom off, her malevolent cackling filled the office. She might have to give Jade West a free cruise – but she could still do her damnedest to make sure that the girl would not have a pleasant experience.
At all.